Many small to mid-sized manufacturers believe that they can do without an ERP system. They believe that their operation is simple enough that they can control it with a few spreadsheets. Often, this is simply not the case.

ERP is a tool that is there to improve efficiency and give you the tools to make informed decisions. With that said, the purchase of such a system should be viewed as an investment rather than a cost and so you should expect to see a return.

The idea of Enterprise Resource Planning is to make your life easier in every way. It’s there as a central hub of information that is live and easily dissected and manipulated. With the huge amount of data that is processed by these systems, being able to find information you want as quick as possible can be a challenge in itself.

Enterprise Resource Planning for Sheet Metal Work. These two terms in the same sentence is a rare occurrence. The reason being is that like many industries, the sheet metal trade has a process flow that is unique in many ways. Finding an ERP system specifically designed for the industry you work in is so important.

As with most industries, the sheet metal industry has its own unique quoting methods and requirements which people with a non-sheet metal background would struggle to comprehend. Finding a quoting system to suit its exact needs is tricky…. That is unless you find one that is specifically developed for the industry itself.

Quoting is a very important part of any business as it is most commonly the first step in securing a sale. The way in which people quote will vary from business to business, and so being able to adapt a quoting system to suit your quoting processes is key. The ability to make quoting consistent, efficient and traceable will help you streamline your business along with giving you the ammunition to make informed business decisions. With so many systems to choose from, it is hard to distinguish the difference between them. We have put together the three main outcomes you should expect to see from using quoting software.

Quick lead time is one of the best unique selling points a manufacturing company can offer its customers. In the world we live in, projects and processes take days rather than weeks, and so the ability to forecast your manufacturing capacity has never been more important

A large number of ERP implementations fail at the very first hurdle. It is common knowledge that the implementation of such a system will not happen overnight, but why is the failure figure so high? ERP software solutions are slowly becoming the industry standard as technology continues to advance and competitors continue to invest, so you would think that the introduction of such systems should be common practice. We have put together three things to consider when it comes to the implementation of an ERP system;

The theory of being proactive rather than reactive is very appealing to manufacturers for many reasons. One reason would be that, in theory, a proactive approach that was carried out to perfection would lead to very few unexpected surprises. The definition of proactive is to create or control a situation by causing something to happen rather than responding to it after it has already happened. In the language of manufacturing, an example of this would be having the ability to tell if a job is going to be late way before the job is due to be delivered. As a result, this would then give you the time to act accordingly, whether it be to prioritise and push the job through production, or to give the customer plenty of notice that their job will not be arriving on time. A reactive approach to this very situation could have a detrimental effect on the business and its reputation.

The general rule of thumb when it comes to running a manufacturing business is to make profit. There are a few different approaches and theories when it comes to pricing up jobs. The most common approach is to use your costs and then apply a mark up in order to make money. This formula is very simple with only 2 general variables and is almost flawless once calculated properly. It all sounds so simple, but there is one common problem faced by many – how much is that job costing me to manufacture?